Mentorship

The Ironwood Tree Experience Mentorship eco-program is underway! This program is taking youth empowerment to the next level. Former  Get Experience! and Expeditionary Experience! teens are designing and implementing the mentorship program from the ground up. The resulting program will ideally produce a cohort of teen mentors who are absolutely invested in the program that they created and one that reflects teen values.

Mentors provide support for ITE programs and they must demonstrate a degree of skill proficiency derived from level II (Get Experience!) and level III (Expeditionary Experience) programming that emphasizes hiking, camping and backpacking, ecology, naturalist studies, primitive skills, journaling, kayaking, rock climbing and orienteering.

Teen Mentors work closely with ITE staff and gain additional experience by undergoing training that hones communication, leadership, safety and outdoor skills. Mentors that assist with the Epic Experience program must have also completed the Epic Experience themselves.

ITE Mentors

Matt Clark is a student at Ironwood Ridge High School. He enjoys hiking, camping, rock climbing, and other outdoor activities.  He has been in the Get Experience and Expeditionary Experience eco-programs.  Matt is now in the Mentorship eco-program.  He is an ITE mentor because he likes to be outdoors and wants more kids to experience the outdoors like him.

Alegria Gray is a 16 year old half African-American, half Venezuelan girl that lives in Tucson, Arizona and is a fluent Spanish speaker. She attends Mountain View High School and is in the Key Club which raises money for charitable organizations such as Lizzies Loot, March of Dimes & countless others. She is also the president of the New Global Citizens Team at her school.  She enjoys listening to music, being a nerd, doing well in school, hanging out with her friends and being awesome with other ITE mentors. Alegria aspires to give others a love for the peace and beauty she finds while embraced in nature.

Kyle Knight is a Freshman at Empire Highschool. Kyle has gone through all of the ITE eco-programs and he enjoys hiking and camping. Kyle also plays the saxophone,  enjoys writing fiction and running. Kyle is a mentor because he wants to share the experiences that he has been so fortunate to have with the “youts”.

Wulf Steklis is a fun loving teen who loves to play games like football and soccer. He also loves camping, hiking, climbing on rocks and playing in water. Wulf Steklis goes to St. Gregory High School and is a mentor for ITE so that he can teach kids about all the hidden things in the Sonoran Desert. When he turns 17 he wants to go into the Marine Corp because he loves survival skills and extreme situations. To those who love adventure and    fun, you should join ITE!